Friday

Mar 27, 2009 at 5:03 AM

By MATT STRAYER

T-G Sports Writer

To say Ashland University men's golf coach Darrin Jones is praying for rain -- and the warmer-than-freezing temperatures that accompany it -- this weekend when the Eagles host the AU Invitational would be a drastic overstatement.

But it wouldn't be all bad news. Anything is better than the 13-plus inches of snow that sentenced his golfers to two weeks of putting on carpet and chipping into their couches before their tournament schedule got rolling a year ago.

Just as the weather is looking up, so, too, are AU's hopes of qualifying for its first-ever NCAA Division II national finals. The Eagles finished fifth at the Great Lakes super regional a year ago, missing out on one of three tickets to the nationals.

"I just have a good feeling about the way we went about things this year," said Jones, adding that the qualifying format has changed so that four teams will advance this year. "I think we have a fair chance, let's put it that way. Last year, it was a little more bleak. It was going to be one of those things where we had to play our absolute best to make it. This year we can just play good and make it."

While official regional standings haven't been released yet, Jones projects his Eagles to be ranked fifth or sixth when the initial poll comes out.

If they can stay in the top 10 by the time the final standings are released, they'll punch their ticket to The Meadows at Grand Valley State University for their fourth-ever super-regional berth.

A solid outing for AU this weekend at the Country Club of Ashland would go a long way to securing its top-10 position. Every team in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference but one -- Grand Valley State -- will be in town.

The Eagles finished fifth out of nine teams at the 2008 AU Invitational despite then-senior Chris Robertson winning medalist honors after a birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff with Findlay's Eric Atsma.

Robertson finished with a 1-over-par two-round score of 145. No other AU golfer scored better than 154.

"We had a two-week gap (last year) with no golf and went to our first tournament and played bad, came home and played even worse," Jones said. "We're not taking a break (this year) and we've kept our games in pretty good shape, so I'm anticipating a much better result."

The Eagles are coming off a seventh-place finish at the E-Z-Go Spring Classic at Northern Kentucky last weekend. AU freshman Jay Overy fired rounds of 72 and 73 to finish in a two-way tie for 12th place.

According to Jones, senior captain D'Andrea will be the team's leader this spring. He suffered from dehydration at last spring's super regional, but is looking to bounce back.

"He's motivated," Jones said. "He's looking to make up for that, get there and advance to the next level."

Ashland also posted a 297 at Killearn Country Club in Tallahassee, Fla. on March 12 for a two-stroke victory over Saginaw Valley State. Even though only two teams played, that spring-break matchup gave AU a much-needed head-to-head win.

"You're playing well and you're trying to win tournaments, but you're just trying to beat the correct teams," Jones said. "If we play well at home, we could pick up some wins on some teams. Basically what you're looking for is, whenever you go through this process, it's all about your head-to-head record with other teams."

Next weekend the Eagles travel to Georgetown, Ky. for the second of two regional tournaments designed to give the NCAA a look at head-to-head matchups between the GLIAC and its sister conference, the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

The final regional tournament will be at Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Ind. April 18-20, after which the final regional standings will be released.

"It's a beast," Jones said.

The Country Club of Ashland is no pushover, either. According to Jones, it most harshly penalizes misses that are not far off the mark, making it a true test for collegiate golfers.

The strength of AU's team is its balance, Jones added, and this weekend will give him a chance to evaluate each player on a neutral playing field.

"I think it gives you a barometer only week-to-week," Jones said. "The only thing I really take away is, I try to look at what we do poorly every week and then improve on that for the next week. This is going to be a course where I'm going to see for sure where my guys' games are because they know the course."